[FC] History Question

[Vairtec Corporation]

On 3/3/2011 6:56 PM, J R Read wrote:
> I've been wondering about Loadside and Rampside production.  Did they start
> out (more or less) at the same time in '61?  Or did GM realize the Loadside
> was not selling and then brought out the Rampside?  Anyone have a definitive
> answer on that?

An easy one, JR.

They were introduced simultaneously, the Loadside to be a lower-priced 
alternative to the Rampside.

Actually -- although I cannot state this authoritatively -- the Loadside 
as originally conceived was to have a full flat floor and a storage 
locker below that floor, similar to the VW pickup of the time.  But cost 
considerations killed that idea and it became an ordinary, albeit 
rear-engine, pickup.

--Bob Marlow